Situation at ZNPP as serious as ever - intel chief on Russia's terror plot

Russian troops placed military hardware carrying explosives outside four out of six available power units at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant they had captured in the spring of 2022.

That’s according to Major General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate, who spoke with UK’s The New Statesman, Ukrinform reports referring to the intelligence agency press service.

"The terror attack plot for the ZNPP has been fully developed and approved. They can use certain technical tools to accelerate the disaster," Budanov said.

According to the top defense intelligence official, nuclear reactors without cooling could melt within a period from 10 hours to 14 days.

A voltage hike on power lines feeding the facility, which the Russians may also cause, can lead to an accident at the ZNPP as well.

Budanov went on to recall that the Russian troops had earlier planted mines in the ZNPP cooling pond, and also spoke about Russian military hardware filled with explosives that the invaders deployed right outside  four out of six power units.

"The situation has never been as serious as now," he emphasized.

According to Budanov, the aggressor state may issue an order to commit a terror attack at the ZNPP if Russian forces face defeat on the left bank of the Dnipro River. Russia considers creating a nuclear disaster zone as a safeguard against any further advance of Ukraine’s Defense Forces in the country’s southern part.

At the same time, according to Budanov's assessment, there is a risk that Moscow may launch an attack on the nuclear power plant involving a radiation leak as a "pre-emptive measure" to stop Ukraine's offensive operation and freeze the front line in its current form.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia is considering the scenario of a terror attack targeting the Zaporizhzhia NPP and that the invaders had prepared everything to this end.